Page 29 of Under the Northern Lights

“She worked there?”

“No,” he said with a tight chuckle that showed little emotion.

“Her father owned the boating supply business. I was checking out when she came in from getting her nails done. Or maybe it was her hair. Whatever it was, she came to drop off lunch for her father, and we got to talking. That discussion led to us exchanging numbers. We would mostly talk on the phone, but I also traveled to Anchorage once a month to see her. My family wanted to meet her because they knew I was getting pretty serious. She suggested moving to Conley Island and helping at the lodge for a while so we would have more time to get to know each other. So I flew her here. I have no idea what she was expecting, but this place evidently was not it.” Gage shook his head.

“I don’t know how I could have been so wrong about her. ”

“You loved her,” Aurora stated. Gage didn’t seem like the type to bring a woman home to meet his family unless he was all in.

“I thought I did,” he admitted. “But I realize now that I read more into our relationship than was actually there. On the phone, and when we met in person, she said all the right things. Things she thought I wanted to hear. But that all changed shortly after she arrived here. She was disappointed in the man she chose and made no effort to hide it.”

“Disappointed? In you?” How could that ever be possible? Aurora wondered, feeling angry that this woman had made Gage feel unworthy of having her love.

“Me,” he answered. “And my life,” he went on with a troubled frown.

“I think Jess was expecting something far more glamorous. Like the fishing resorts that are taking over the smaller businesses. The same ones I am fighting against taking over our small family-run business. The woman I had gotten to know over the phone and through brief visits to her place in Anchorage wasn’t the same one I brought here.

After coming to Conley Island, Jess chose to spend hours on her phone in the great room instead of joining conversations or family gameplay.

Meals were a challenge for my mom because Jess had an aversion to fish, which, as you know, we serve our guests often.

Not that Mom had to worry over many meals. Jess’s stay lasted only a few days.”

“Oh my,” Aurora said. How awful that visit must have been for him. “She sounds ... not nice.” That was the kindest thing she could think to say about the woman who’d treated Gage so unfairly.

He laughed, some of the tension the conversation had stirred up leaving his handsome, moonlit face. “Not nice at all,” he agreed. “But the truth is she wanted a life in the city or one on a fancy resort. That was not the life I had to offer her. In the end, I was not her person.”

“I’m so sorry she hurt you,” she said.

“It kept me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”

“You deserve someone who appreciates you for who you are. There are so many things in life that can make a person rich, and not all of them are connected to financial wealth. Like having a loving, caring family. Like having the ability to step outside and soak in the tranquility around you every day. Like the feeling you get when you do for others without having been asked to do so.”

“Going by that, I’m a very wealthy man,” he said with a smile.

“Filthy rich,” she agreed with a grin.

They turned their gazes back to the fire, sitting in companionable silence.

“Hot cocoa and s’mores, anyone?”

Aurora looked back over her shoulder to see Julia coming toward them carrying a large metal tray. “Yes, please.”

“Sounds good,” Gage agreed.

When Julia reached them, Aurora glanced over the tray and its contents. Next to the necessities for s’mores were two steaming mugs. “You’re not having a hot chocolate with us?”

“I already had some with Mom and Dad in by the fireplace,” his sister answered as they took the offered cups of hot cocoa. “These are for you two. And I brought out everything you need to make s’mores if you have room left for some dessert. I’ll set the tray over here.”

“I always have room,” Gage told her as he stood and walked over to join his sister, where she placed the tray on a long, narrow table that sat against the rear outer wall of the lodge.

A few feet above it, a strip of wood with several hooks lined up across it held a fire poker and several stainless steel marshmallow roasting sticks.

“I suppose I could force a s’more down as well,” Aurora called over to Julia with a grateful smile. It was so sweet of Gage’s sister to think about them. “Maybe two.”

Julia returned the smile. “Enjoy,” she said before starting for the lodge’s rear door.

“You’re not going to have a s’more with us?” Aurora asked.

Gage’s sister paused and then turned to look at Aurora, surprise lighting her features. “You want me to join you?” She looked at Gage, who had returned with several roasting sticks, her expression now anxious.

“She’s not Jess,” he said, sounding confident in his words.

Aurora couldn’t help but smile. She’d been trying to get Gage to accept that for the truth it was.

It seemed that he finally had. That meant a lot to her.

Gage had somehow begun to mean a lot to her too, much to Aurora’s chagrin.

For so long, she had been trying to get in with World Adventures Magazine and had finally been given that opportunity.

A full-time job with the magazine was within her reach if the photos she took this trip wowed them enough.

This was not the time to let her heart lead her down some other path.

“You are more than welcome to join us,” Aurora said. “Come on over and fix yourself a s’more.”

Julia smiled. “I do love a toasted marshmallow.”

“You and me both,” Aurora agreed as Gage handed her a roasting stick.

He handed Julia one, keeping one for himself. Then he held up the bag of marshmallows he’d carried over with the roasting sticks. “Ladies first,” he said, handing the bag over to Aurora.

She opened it and pulled out a fluffy, white marshmallow, then handed the open bag to Julia, who sat on the opposite side of her. “This brings me back to my childhood, making s’mores by a campfire with Jade.”

“Was that the last time you had one?” Julia asked as she placed her marshmallow onto the pointed tip of her roasting stick.

Aurora nodded as she pushed her marshmallow farther up the tine she’d placed it on. “Yes. There isn’t much opportunity for me to sit around a campfire in downtown Seattle.”

“I can’t imagine living somewhere surrounded by concrete,” Julia replied as she stuck her loaded stick in the flames.

“Plenty of people do it,” Gage said. “We’re just used to a different kind of life.”

“I have to admit that I’m a little envious of your life here,” Aurora told them. “It’s so much slower-paced and relaxing. And being surrounded by nature with all its breathtaking views is the biggest plus of all.”

“Most people think that when they come here for a stay,” Gage said as he turned his marshmallow, which had cooked to a golden brown on one side. “But they’re ready to get back to their kind of civilization by the time their stay is up.”

“I think you’d be surprised,” Aurora told him as she pulled her stick from the fire and stood to go fix her s’more. She was not one of those people Gage was referring to. She was nowhere near ready to leave Conley Island, but she had a life to get back to in Seattle.

“I loved your painting of Gage,” Julia said when she joined her at the table to fix her campfire treat.

“I loved Reed’s,” Aurora said in a hushed whisper.

“Hey, I heard that,” Gage said from behind her as he reached past them for two graham cracker squares.

The two women giggled.

“You know,” Aurora said to Julia, “I’d be happy to show you how to get the most out of your pictures for the retreat’s website.”

“Are you serious?”

Aurora smiled. “Very. I could even have a look at the website and give you my two cents on its layout if you’d like. I designed my site that I use to sell photos and prints online. And I did my friend Emmy’s website for her new art gallery.”

“I would never turn down a chance to better my skills,” Julia replied. “Thank you so much.”

“You are so very welcome,” Aurora said as she placed the perfectly golden-brown puff atop a graham cracker, topping it off with a square of chocolate, and then another graham cracker. She took a bite and groaned, thoroughly enjoying their campfire masterpieces. “This is sooo good.”

Gage grinned. “I had no idea that s’mores were the way to?—”

Gage’s words were cut off by the ringing of a phone. Aurora pulled hers out from her jacket pocket and glanced at the screen. “It’s my sister,” she told them with a worried frown. “She doesn’t usually call me this late in the evening.” Jade and her husband were the early-to-bed type.

“Take it,” Gage said without hesitation.

“I hope everything’s okay,” Julia said as Aurora stood and stepped away from the fire pit to take her sister’s call.

Her stomach knotting in worry, she hit the answer button and brought the phone to her ear. “Jade? Is everything alright?”

Her sister laughed, the sound immediately sending relief coursing through Aurora. “Everything is wonderful,” she said.

“You sound pretty perky for this time of night,” Aurora told her in confusion.

“The correct term would be giddy,” her younger sister corrected. “And I’m up because David had to work overtime this evening, and I didn’t want to make this call without him.”

“Hi, Aurora!” her brother-in-law called out in the background.

“Hold on,” Jade told her. “I’m going to put my phone on speaker. Okay, go ahead.”

“Hi, David,” Aurora replied, trying to remember when she’d ever heard him sound so bubbly.

“Hope you’re ready to be an aunt.”

“Ready to ... wait a minute! Did you just say aunt?”

“He did,” her sister confirmed with a happy giggle. “We’re going to be adding a little one to our family.”